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Engaging Reluctant Readers

How can you get a reluctant reader to read? Do the words “time to read” bring this look on a child you know? As teachers and parents we have encountered children who don’t like to read.  Motivating reluctant readers can be a challenge. How do we get them engaged so they continue to grow and be successful readers. The key is finding passages that are interesting to them and help them be active in their own…

Scaredy Squirrel – Mentor Text

Today’s featured book is Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt. Not only has this beloved series won numerous awards, but a television series on the books began in 2011. In case you aren’t familiar with this character, let me tell you a bit about him. As his name suggests, Scaredy has many fears; from  mosquitoes, ants, germs, to polka-dot monsters and confetti. Some, you may relate to as well! So Scaredy has become an expert on how…

CLOSE READING Improves Comprehension

What is Close Reading? Close Reading is being written and talked about quite a bit lately. It has nothing to do with being near sighted, however. Close reading strategies allow readers to analyze and make meaning of a text through multiple readings. This is not merely rereading the passage several times. Rather the goal is to teach children how to dissect a complex text in order to obtain a deeper understanding of the passage. Typically close…

Dr. Seuss FONTS

Dr. Seuss’s birthday is on March 2nd. Teachers across the country are preparing by gathering anything and everything “Dr. Seuss”. The fonts below would be ideal for worksheets, banners, crafts, and more. When you click on the font name, it will take you to another site where you can download the font. I did not create these fonts I only linked to them. To download the fonts you must click the links to go the various…

Winter Writing Collection

Poetry is an easy way to incorporate writing into your weekly plans. Once I teach a style of poetry, my students are able to choose it during Work on Writing time. Last week they couldn’t wait to write acrostic poems about topics of their choice. This week they will be learning how to write cinquains. This is a template I created to help them create their cinquains. It is just one activity in my Winter Writing…

Mentor Sentences – Teach It So They Remember It!

DO YOU HAVE THIS Problem? Each year you and your colleagues teach grammar and mechanics, yet they still don’t know how to write complete detailed sentences. Why Should I Use Mentor Sentences? Research has shown that completing numerous grammar worksheets or editing sentences with mistakes does not transfer to writing. You know this to be true, too. How many times have you said, “I taught it and they STILL don’t do it!” It’s time for a…

Identifying Character Traits in Literature

Readers learn about a character  through their actions and words. Rarely does an author directly say the character is curious or hardworking. Instead, the reader is actually using the skill of making inferences to figure this out. For developing readers, identifying character traits can be a challenge. When I introduce this skill, I like to read aloud a story that has a very strong character such as the little wolf in The Wolf Who Cried Boy….

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